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[h=2]Auto Club Speedway celebrates 20 years of racing[/h] Friday, 24 February 2017


Kelly Crandall / Images by Nigel Kinrade, Auto Club Speedway, LAT

The president of Auto Club Speedway, Dave Allen, says it doesn't feel like it's been 20 years.
Auto Club celebrates its 20th anniversary this season, years that have gone by "super fast" with a lot packed into them, Allen told RACER. Having let the 10th and 15th anniversaries pass by, Auto Club is in the midst of a grand celebration ahead of its March 26 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race.


"We started talking about how do we acknowledge the 20th anniversary, how do we acknowledge the fans who have been here for 20 years and the business partners that have been with us for 20 years?" Allen said. "We just thought it was a good opportunity to take a trip down memory lane a little bit, even though 20 years isn't that long in the grand scheme of things."
The conclusion Auto Club Speedway came to was to hold activities based around the theme of a reunion – something Allen believes a race weekend symbolizes. Fans come to make memories while sharing old ones. For those who make annual treks to the track, there's also the chance to see friends they've made through the years.
Auto Club Speedway also redesigned its logo for this year. Feeding off a high school reunion feel, the track has also been producing a lot of digital content, including superlatives and memes. Next month, the track will have selfie stations and has created its program to resemble a yearbook, which features driver signatures.
There will also be a signature page (similar to what you'd find in a yearbook) for fans to utilize during the weekend for driver autographs and other notes.
"Race week, we'll look at having Jeff Gordon's Rainbow Warrior car, which is what he drove in 1997 to win the inaugural race," Allen said of future plans. "Jimmie Johnson's going to have his car out there that won last year, the Superman car."
Auto Club Speedway officially opened on June 20, 1997, with the man who developed the speedway, Roger Penske, cutting the ceremonial ribbon. NASCAR then ran its first race at the track on June 22, which Gordon won on his way to his second championship. Gordon is the only driver to have competed in every Cup race at Auto Club until his retirement in 2015.
The track was also the site of two first-time winners: Jimmie Johnson (2002) and Kyle Busch (2005). Johnson is a California native and has since won five more races at Auto Club Speedway.
What makes racing work in Southern California? Allen points to area's rich racing history.
"We're an entertainment facility that's fun and fast and friendly," Allen said. "Our racing's gotten way better; the track has aged quite a bit. I think a lot of people actually forget that Southern California is really the birthplace of hot-rodding. When you look at car culture, and you look at the way hot-rodding evolved over the years, it started in Southern California.
"A lot of racers that have won (in NASCAR), you look at your A.J. Foyts and your Parnelli Joneses and Dan Gurneys of the world, there's a lot of big time racers who came out of California. You look at the drivers who are racing right now – notable guys – they're all California guys. There's a rich racing history in California, and I like that. I like to play off that. I think it's important for people to pass that historical knowledge they have as race fans to the next generation."
Click on the thumbnails below for larger images from the first race at Auto Club Speedway in 1997.






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